Review: Sweet Giordan, Please Remember by Raine O’Tierney

I sadly finished Raine O’Tierney’s Sweet Giordan, Please Rememberway too soon. This is a delightful book. My big beef is that it’s so short! I loved Chloe, a fully realized and grounded character. I loved the way Giordan’s memories came back to him through art, and the “art trance” was a truly inventive vehicle, beautifully shown. I liked the fact that Shane’s family wasn’t perfect — some believable homophobia got in the way of the love story, just like it still does in real life. The author’s handling of race and class was deft – she never ignores the fact that some of the main characters are black and some are white, nor that our hero has been homeless and his love interest is wealthy, but those elements aren’t the story. The story is the love story, and the author never loses her focus, which is good news for us. We can relax and enjoy the sweet, never-hurried ride.